Vehicular security bypass

ABSTRACT

An illustrative electrical harness for bypassing a vehicular security module includes first, second, and third connectors, and electrical conductors. The electrical conductors electrically couple a first pin of the first connector to a third pin of the third connector, a second pin of the first connector to an eleventh pin of the third connector, a first pin of the second connector to a fourteenth pin of the third connector, and a second pin of the second connector to a sixth pin of the third connector. When the first connector is mated with a connector of a first communication bus of a vehicle and the second connector is mated with a connector of a second communication bus of the vehicle, the third connector is configured to bypass the vehicular security module by providing access to a diagnostic port of electrical modules coupled to the first or second communication buses.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of commonly owned U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/574,422, filed on Oct. 19, 2017,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

For security reasons, some vehicles are equipped with a gatewaymodule—which is sometimes referred to as a security gateway module(SGW), a central gateway module (CGW), or the like—that limits and/oraltogether prevents access to certain electronic subsystems or modulesof the vehicle, for instance, which may otherwise have been accessiblevia an onboard diagnostic (e.g., OBD2) port of the vehicle. AppendicesA, B, C, D, E, F, and G which were obtained fromhttps://www.techauthority.com/ (last accessed on Oct. 17, 2017) and arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, arediagrams that illustrate aspects of an example security gateway moduleand its arrangement within an electrical circuit of a vehicle, such as aFiat Chrysler automobile. In some instances, it may be desirable toelectronically access certain electronic vehicle subsystems or modulesunimpeded by the limitations or prevention that the security gatewaymodule would otherwise effect. Given the foregoing, a need exists for ameans of bypassing the limits put in place by the security gatewaymodule.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, systems andmethods for vehicular security bypass are provided, which enable orelectronic access to certain electronic vehicle subsystems or modulesfree from the limits or prevention that the security gateway modulewould otherwise effect.

In a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a system and method aredescribed herein that facilitate the bypassing of the security gatewaymodule via an electrical harness that includes an additional port (e.g.,another OBD2 port) by which certain electronic vehicle modules can beaccessed. The electrical harness includes a first connector having afirst pin and a second pin; a second connector having a first pin and asecond pin; a third connector having a plurality of pins; and aplurality of electrical conductors. The first pin of the first connectoris electrically coupled to a third pin of the plurality of pins of thethird connector via a first conductor of the plurality of electricallyconductors. The second pin of the first connector is electricallycoupled to an eleventh pin of the plurality of pins of the thirdconnector via a second conductor of the plurality of electricalconductors. The first pin of the second connector is electricallycoupled to a fourteenth pin of the plurality of pins of the thirdconnector via a third conductor of the plurality of electricalconductors. The second pin of the second connector is electricallycoupled to a sixth pin of the plurality of pins of the third connectorvia a fourth conductor of the plurality of electrical conductors.

In one aspect, the first connector is configured to mate with a firstcommunication bus connector coupled to a first communication bus of anautomotive vehicle, and the second connector is configured to mate witha second communication bus connector coupled to a second communicationbus of the automotive vehicle. When the first connector is mated withthe first communication bus connector and the second connector is matedwith the second communication bus connector, the third connector may beconfigured to provide electronic access to a diagnostic port of one ormore electrical modules coupled to the first communication bus or thesecond communication bus.

In some implementations, the first communication bus may be a controllerarea network interior high speed (CAN-IHS) bus and the secondcommunication bus may be a controller area network C (CAN-C) bus. Insuch implementations, the first connector may be a CAN-IHS-compatibleconnector, the second connector may be a CAN-C-compatible connector, andthe third connector may be an on-board diagnostic (OBD)-compatibleconnector, such as an OBD2 connector.

In some aspects, the electrical harness may further include a powerconnector and a ground connector, with the power connector electricallycoupled to a sixteenth pin of the third connector via a fifth conductorof the electrical conductors, and the ground connector electricallycoupled to a fourth pin and a fifth pin of the third connector via asixth conductor of the electrical conductors. The power connector may becouplable to battery power of an automotive vehicle and the groundconnector may be couplable to chassis ground of the automotive vehicle.

In a second embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus describedherein facilitates the bypassing of the security gateway module via anelectrical connector having certain pins bridged to one another toenable certain electronic vehicle modules to be accessed via the port(e.g., OBD2 port) originally installed on the vehicle. The apparatusincludes: a first connector having a plurality of pins; and a secondconnector having a plurality of pins. A third pin, a fourth pin, and afifth pin of the first connector are electrically coupled to one anothervia a first electrical conductor. A tenth pin, an eleventh pin, and atwelfth pin of the first connector are electrically coupled to oneanother via a second electrical conductor. A first pin, a second pin,and a third pin of the second connector are electrically coupled to oneanother via a third electrical conductor. A sixth pin, a seventh pin,and an eight pin of the second connector are electrically coupled to oneanother via a fourth electrical conductor. The first, second, third,and/or fourth electrical conductors may include one or more jumpers invarious implementations.

In some aspects, the first connector bypasses a vehicular securitymodule of an automotive vehicle by replacing a first connector of thevehicular security module in a first electrical circuit comprising afirst communication bus of the automotive vehicle. The first connectormay replace the first connector of the vehicular security module bymating with a first communication bus connector coupled to the firstcommunication bus in place of the first connector of the vehicularsecurity module. In some implementations, the first communication busmay be a CAN-C bus.

In some examples, the second connector bypasses a vehicular securitymodule of an automotive vehicle by replacing a second connector of thevehicular security module in a second electrical circuit comprising asecond communication bus of the automotive vehicle. The second connectormay replace the second connector of the vehicular security module bymating with a second communication bus connector coupled to the secondcommunication bus in place of the second connector of the vehicularsecurity module. The second communication bus may be a CAN-IHS bus.

The apparatus, in some instances, may further include a diagnostic port(e.g., an originally installed on-board diagnostic port of a vehicle)coupled to the vehicular security module. In such instances, when thefirst connector is mated with a first communication bus connector of afirst communication bus of the automotive vehicle and the secondconnector is mated with a second communication bus connector of a secondcommunication bus of the automotive vehicle, the diagnostic port may beconfigured to provide electronic access to an electrical modulediagnostic port of one or more electrical modules coupled to the firstcommunication bus or the second communication bus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram including an example electrical harness forbypassing a vehicular security module, in accordance with a firstembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows one implementation of the electrical harness shown in FIG.1, in accordance with the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows pinouts and additional details regarding the electricalharness of the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram including an example apparatus for bypassing avehicular security module, in accordance with a second embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 5 shows pinouts and additional details regarding the apparatus ofthe second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, the systems and methods herein enable access to certainelectronic vehicle components (e.g., an air conditioner/heater module, adriver or passenger door module, a radio amplifier module, a bodycontrol module, a blind spot detection module, or the like) by bypassingthe security gateway module of the vehicle. In some aspects, the systemsand methods described herein facilitate bypassing of security gatewaymodule by taking advantage of certain characteristics, pinouts, and/orwiring configurations of security gateway modules of certain vehicles,such as, by way of a non-limiting example, Fiat Chrysler automobiles, orthe like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 including an exampleelectrical harness 112 for bypassing a vehicular security module 102, inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2shows one example implementation of the electrical harness 112 shown inFIG. 1, in accordance with the first embodiment. FIG. 3 shows pinoutsand additional details regarding the electrical harness 112 of the firstembodiment. With reference to FIGS. 1 through 3, the system 100 includesa vehicular security module 102, an on-board diagnostic (OBD) port 104,and a variety of electronic modules 106 a through 106 f (collectively,106) that are coupled to a vehicular bus (e.g., a CAN C bus) 108 and avehicular bus (e.g., CAN IHS bus) 110. OBD port 104 is coupled tovehicular security module 102 via conductor path 114. OBD port 104 iscoupled to power (e.g., vehicle battery power) via conductor 148 andconnector 146, and is coupled to ground (e.g., vehicle chassis ground)via conductor 152 and connector 150. Vehicular security module 102 iscoupled to the modules 106 via a path including connector 138, conductor116, connector 142, and CAN C bus 108. Vehicular security module 102 isalso coupled to the modules 106 via a second path including connector140, conductor 118, connector 144, and CAN IHS bus 110.

Electrical harness 112 includes first connector 124, second connector122, and diagnostic port (e.g., third connector) 120. Althoughelectrical harness 112 shown in FIG. 1 includes both first connector 124and second connector 122, in some embodiments, electrical harness 112may include either first connector 124 (e.g., for coupling to CAN-C bus108) or second connector 122 (e.g., for coupling to CAN-IHS bus 110),but not both. In some examples, first connector 124 may be aCAN-IHS-compatible connector, such as a TE Connectivity/AMP connectorhaving part number 5-2138650-1 and second connector 122 may be aCAN-C-compatible connector, such as a TE Connectivity/AMP connectorhaving part number 2-2138650-1. Electrical harness 112 also includespower connector 130, power conductor 132, ground connector 134, andground conductor 136. As shown in FIG. 3, pin 1 of first connector 124is electrically coupled to pin 3 of third connector 120 via electricalconductor 302. Pin 2 of first connector 124 is electrically coupled topin 11 of third connector 120 via electrical conductor 304. Pin 1 ofsecond connector 122 is electrically coupled to pin 14 of thirdconnector 120 via electrical conductor 306. Pin 2 of second connector122 is electrically coupled to pin 6 of third connector 120 viaelectrical conductor 308. Pins 4 and 5 of third connector 120 areelectrically coupled to chassis ground of the vehicle via electricalconductor 136. Pin 16 of third connector 120 is electrically coupled tovehicle battery power via conductor 132. In some embodiments, electricalharness 112 may receive power and/or ground from any other suitablesource in the vehicle. For example, electrical harness 112 may receivepower from OBD port 104 (e.g., via conductor 148, connector 146, andconductor 154), and may be coupled to ground via OBD port 104 (e.g., viaconductor 152, connector 150, and conductor 156).

Electrical harness 112 is installed in a vehicle to bypass vehicularsecurity module 102. In particular, electrical harness 112 is configuredto mate with modules 106 via conductor 126, connector 122, and CAN C bus108, and also mate with modules 106 via conductor 128, connector 124,and via CAN-IHS bus 110. Electrical harness 112 is configured to becoupled to power (e.g., vehicle battery power) via conductor 132 andconnector 130, and be coupled to ground (e.g., vehicle chassis ground)via conductor 136 and connector 134. In one example, for instance, theelectrical harness is installed into the vehicle by connecting firstconnector 124 to the STAR CAN IHS REAR connector of the vehicle (notseparately shown in FIG. 1) and connecting second connector 122 to theSTAR CAN C REAR connector of the vehicle (not separately shown in FIG.1), although as one of skill in the art would appreciate, otherconfigurations are also contemplated. Once electrical harness 112 hasbeen installed in the vehicle in this manner, access to variouselectronic modules 106 of the vehicle is facilitated by way of thirdconnector 120 of the electrical harness 112. For instance, in someexamples, electrical harness 112 installed in this manner providesaccess to modules 106 that reside on the same side of the vehicle bus(e.g., bus 108 and/or bus 110) on which electrical harness 112 isinstalled, at least in part because the vehicular security module 102,in this configuration, is no longer electrically located betweendiagnostic port 120 (e.g., the third connector) and at least some of theelectronic components 106 of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 including an example apparatus forbypassing a vehicular security module, in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 shows many componentsalready described above in the context of FIG. 1, and so descriptions ofthose components are not repeated here. FIG. 5 shows pinouts andadditional details regarding the apparatus of the second embodiment. Inaccordance with the second embodiment, the vehicular security module(e.g., module 102 shown in FIG. 1) is replaced with vehicular securitybypass apparatus 402 which includes connectors 502 and 508 havingcertain pins bridged to one another, and is installed in the vehicle toreplace a corresponding electrical connector of the vehicular securitygateway module that would otherwise be electrically coupled to the datalink connector and to other vehicle modules 106. Connector 502 iscoupled to CAN C bus 108 via connector 138 of conductor 116, andconnector 508 is coupled to CAN-HSI bus 110 via connector 140 ofconductor 118. As shown in FIG. 5, in connector 502, pins 3, 4 and 5 areelectrically coupled (e.g., bridged) to one another via electricalconductors 504 (e.g., one or more jumpers), and pins 10, 11, and 12 arebridged to one another via electrical conductors 506 (e.g., one or morejumpers). In the connector 508, pins 1, 2, and 3 are bridged to oneanother via electrical conductors 510 (e.g., one or more jumpers), andpins 6, 7, and 8 are bridged to one another via electrical conductors512 (e.g., one or more jumpers). Once constructed with the pins bridgedas described above, connectors 502 and 508 are installed in the vehicleas vehicular security bypass apparatus 402 in place of the securitygateway module as described above. Once vehicular security bypassapparatus 402 is installed in this manner, access to various electronicmodules of the vehicle is facilitated by way of on-board diagnostic port104 (e.g., the OBD2 port) that is originally installed in the vehicle.For instance, in some examples, vehicular security bypass apparatus 402installed in this manner provides access to substantially all theelectronic components (e.g., modules 106) that reside on the vehiclebuses 108 and 110 (e.g., CAN buses), because the vehicular securitymodule 102, in this configuration, is removed from vehicle buses 108 and110, and signals are permitted to be communicated throughout vehiclebuses 108 and 110 without interacting with the vehicular security module(e.g., 102 of FIG. 1).

In some examples, connectors 502 and 508 according to the secondembodiment herein may be configured so as to be switchable (e.g., viaelectrical switches, software, firmware, and/or the like) into and outof the vehicle's electrical system (e.g., CAN bus 108 and/or 110) totoggle the ability for a manufacturer-provided diagnostic tool tointerface with vehicular security module 102 by way of diagnostic port104 (e.g., the OBD2 port) that is originally installed in the vehicle.

The example embodiments described herein may be implemented usinghardware, software or any combination thereof and may be implemented inone or more computer systems or other processing systems. Additionally,one or more of the steps described in the example embodiments herein maybe implemented, at least in part, by machines. Example machines that maybe useful for performing the operations of the example embodimentsherein include general purpose digital computers, specially-programmedcomputers, desktop computers, server computers, client computers,portable computers, mobile communication devices, tablets, and/orsimilar devices.

The above disclosure is meant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only theclaims that follow are meant to set bounds as to what the presentdisclosure includes. Furthermore, it should be noted that the featuresand limitations described in any one embodiment may be applied to anyother embodiment herein, and flowcharts or examples relating to oneembodiment may be combined with any other embodiment in a suitablemanner, done in different orders, or done in parallel. In addition, thesystems and methods described herein may be performed in real time. Itshould also be noted that the systems and/or methods described above maybe applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical harness for bypassing a vehicularsecurity module, comprising: a first connector having a first pin and asecond pin; a second connector having a first pin and a second pin; athird connector having a plurality of pins; and a plurality ofelectrical conductors, wherein: the first pin of the first connector iselectrically coupled to a third pin of the plurality of pins of thethird connector via a first conductor of the plurality of electricallyconductors, the second pin of the first connector is electricallycoupled to an eleventh pin of the plurality of pins of the thirdconnector via a second conductor of the plurality of electricalconductors, the first pin of the second connector is electricallycoupled to a fourteenth pin of the plurality of pins of the thirdconnector via a third conductor of the plurality of electricalconductors, and the second pin of the second connector is electricallycoupled to a sixth pin of the plurality of pins of the third connectorvia a fourth conductor of the plurality of electrical conductors.
 2. Theelectrical harness of claim 1, wherein the first connector is configuredto mate with a first communication bus connector coupled to a firstcommunication bus of an automotive vehicle, and the second connector isconfigured to mate with a second communication bus connector coupled toa second communication bus of the automotive vehicle.
 3. The electricalharness of claim 2, wherein, when the first connector is mated with thefirst communication bus connector and the second connector is mated withthe second communication bus connector, the third connector isconfigured to provide electronic access to a diagnostic port of one ormore electrical modules coupled to the first communication bus or thesecond communication bus.
 4. The electrical harness of claim 2, whereinthe first communication bus is a controller area network interior highspeed (CAN-IHS) bus.
 5. The electrical harness of claim 2, wherein thesecond communication bus is a controller area network C (CAN-C) bus. 6.The electrical harness of claim 1, wherein the first connector is acontroller area network interior high speed (CAN-IHS)-compatibleconnector.
 7. The electrical harness of claim 1, wherein the secondconnector is a controller area network C (CAN-C)-compatible connector.8. The electrical harness of claim 1, wherein the third connector is anon-board diagnostic (OBD)-compatible connector.
 9. The electricalharness of claim 1, further comprising: a power connector; and a groundconnector, wherein: the power connector is electrically coupled to asixteenth pin of the third connector via a fifth conductor of theplurality of electrical conductors, and the ground connector iselectrically coupled to a fourth pin and a fifth pin of the thirdconnector via a sixth conductor of the plurality of electricalconductors.
 10. The electrical harness of claim 9, wherein the powerconnector is configured to be coupled to battery power of an automotivevehicle.
 11. The electrical harness of claim 9, wherein the groundconnector is configured to be coupled to chassis ground of an automotivevehicle.
 12. An apparatus for bypassing a vehicular security module,comprising: a first connector having a plurality of pins; and a secondconnector having a plurality of pins, wherein: a third pin, a fourthpin, and a fifth pin of the first connector are electrically coupled toone another via a first electrical conductor, a tenth pin, an eleventhpin, and a twelfth pin of the first connector are electrically coupledto one another via a second electrical conductor, a first pin, a secondpin, and a third pin of the second connector are electrically coupled toone another via a third electrical conductor, and a sixth pin, a seventhpin, and an eight pin of the second connector are electrically coupledto one another via a fourth electrical conductor.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein: the first connector bypasses a vehicular securitymodule of an automotive vehicle by replacing a first connector of thevehicular security module in a first electrical circuit comprising afirst communication bus of the automotive vehicle.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein: the first connector replaces the first connector ofthe vehicular security module by mating with a first communication busconnector coupled to the first communication bus in place of the firstconnector of the vehicular security module.
 15. The apparatus of claim13, wherein the first communication bus is a controller area networkinterior high speed (CAN-C) bus.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:the second connector bypasses a vehicular security module of anautomotive vehicle by replacing a second connector of the vehicularsecurity module in a second electrical circuit comprising a secondcommunication bus of the automotive vehicle.
 17. The apparatus of claim16, wherein: the second connector replaces the second connector of thevehicular security module by mating with a second communication busconnector coupled to the second communication bus in place of the secondconnector of the vehicular security module.
 18. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the second communication bus is a controller area network C(CAN-IHS) bus.
 19. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising adiagnostic port coupled to the vehicular security module, wherein, whenthe first connector is mated with a first communication bus connector ofa first communication bus of an automotive vehicle and the secondconnector is mated with a second communication bus connector of a secondcommunication bus of the automotive vehicle, the diagnostic port isconfigured to provide electronic access to an electrical modulediagnostic port of one or more electrical modules coupled to the firstcommunication bus or the second communication bus.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein at least one of the first, second, third, or fourthelectrical conductors include a jumper.